Indians Seek Role in Hetch Hetchy

They want to be in charge of managing the valley if it's restored.

by Matt Weiser (The Sacramento Bee)
Fresno Bee - July 16, 2005

A new alliance of seven American Indian tribes has demanded a role in restoring Hetch Hetchy Valley, an idea under study by a team of state officials.

Calling themselves the Tribal Forum of Indigenous Peoples, the group formed in April in response to growing public debate about the future of Hetch Hetchy. The reservoir in Yosemite National Park serves San Francisco, and it has again become a serious target for conservationists.

Researchers at University of California at Davis and at the nonprofit Environmental Defense produced studies indicating that tearing down O'Shaughnessy Dam, built in 1923, to restore the valley is feasible, though expensive.

A series of Pulitzer Prize-winning editorials in The Sacramento Bee last year nudged Gov. Schwarzenegger to commission an impartial review.

It was during a workshop by the state research team Thursday that the tribal group announced that if the valley is restored, they want a role in the work.

They also want to be in charge of managing the restored valley, because they fear that hidden cultural resources will be destroyed.

"Our concern is for the protection of what's there, the burial sites, grave goods and village sites," said Jay Johnson, a member of the group and a Miwok and Piute Indian who was born in Yosemite Valley.

"As long as the water is there, our villages are protected. If the water is removed, that's going to be one of the biggest issues that we've ever faced. Right now I would oppose any type of development other than restoration."

The group also said if the dam is dismantled, it wants tribal members to get jobs.

Emotions have always run hot over Hetch Hetchy Valley, and the tribal concerns may be premature. There is no consensus to restore the valley. The state study, expected to be finished in the fall, is intended only to assemble facts, not to take a position.

But the tribal group clearly feels Hetch Hetchy is too important to wait for a decision.

"We didn't have much say-so on Hetch Hetchy Valley in the early 1900s," Johnson said. "But today we are here."

Conservationists have long sought to see the dam demolished and the valley restored.